Ericka Kimball, PhD, LISW is an Instructor in a limited term position in the Social Work Department at Augsburg College. She mostly teaches Multicultural Macro Practice (MCMP) concentration and macro courses including research methods, social policy, program planning, human behavior, and organizational change. She serves on the Curriculum and Admissions committees and is an enthusiastic champion in the transition to the hybrid-learning model.

Ericka’s scholarship centers around two main areas: social support for children exposed to domestic violence and the use of technology in social work education, research, and practice. She completed her PhD in Social Work at the University of Minnesota Her dissertation examined the relationship of fathers’ parenting support and parenting stress on family violence. In bridging both areas of interest, Ericka worked with leading researchers in the fields of violence against women and children exposed to domestic violence to develop and implement two online training resources to guide practitioners and the general public in supporting children who have been exposed to domestic violence. Ericka is currently working with Drs. Deka and Bosch on a study of student experiences of emotional stress related to social work education.

In addition to teaching at Augsburg College, Ericka continues to practice at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis as a medical social worker. In her position there, she assist patients and families in adjusting to acute and chronic illness, changes in lifestyle, and addressing end-of-life issues in an acute care setting. She also helps with social, financial, and emotion issues related to health care and rehabilitation. Ericka believes that continuing to practice provides real life examples of social work practice and enhances her ability to bridge macro- and micro-level social work.